r 


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y 


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|50    ""^^ 


M 

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1.4    111.6 


Photpgrapiiic 

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tails 

du 
odifier 

une 
mage 


irrata 
to 


pelure, 
n  d 


n 

32X 


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1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

m0^m^~-- 


^c,/^^ 


THK 


/«^-T-0 


s  STRICTURES  OK  LABI  EN  US, 


The  Historical  Critic  ijn  the  Time  of  Augustus, 


:; 


*f 


)■•  Y    M.   A.    K'ik;  KAI!  |i. 


TH  A  XSl.ATKK     KROM     Till'  KNCIf 


Dii.  w.  lo.  (h;tjii{ik. 


,-^~ 


9,,  . 


PHlI>ADEi.PHIA: 

T.    H.    IMiill,    N.I.    r,(MI    .'HKSTXnr   STIJKKT. 
I860. 


^^^^? 


., 


THE 


STRICTURES  OF  LABIENUS. 


The  Historical  Critic  in  the  Time  of  Augustus, 


^.*\i  .ji^*- 


BY  M.  A.   ROGEABD. 


TBANSIiATED   FROM    THE    FRENCH 


SY 


DR  W.  E.  GUTHRIE. 


^^  lXru/A^>^<:f»^ 


PHILADELPHIA : 

T.   B.   PUGH,   Nu,   600    CHESTNUT  STREET, 
1865. 


iiHiiBiniiTniirniiTiiniroiirintnnnf  1 1I  rriini'irni'i'infiiriiH  m 


" '*- 


•-» 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  CongreBS,  In  the  Year  1865,  by 

r»B.  W.  E.  GUTHRIE, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Ckjurt  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Pennsylvania. 


30^^^" 


••• 


\ 


X 


65,  by 

for  the  Enstern 


i^i 


<. 

^ 

J? 

r<i 

PREFACE. 


■  filnce  this  pamphlet  appeared,  I  have  heard  different  jjerHonH, 
higli-toned  gentlemen  doubtlesa,  exclaim  that  it  1h  Imt  a  slander 
against  a  worthy  and  noble  gentleman,  that  all  its  merit  consistH 
in  being  well  written.  That  it  is  a  slander  ...  I  concede ;  for 
France  owes  so  much  to  the  new  Augustus,  Louis  Napoleon !  think 
of  it: 

He  abolished  passport*  when  for  a  long  time  it  was  no  longer 
possible  to  enforce  their  usage.  Certainly  that  great  man  wishes 
well !     What  liberty  now  everywhere  all  enjoy  under  his  shield ! 

Some  one  hundred  thousand  men  had  already  united  in  an  ex- 
pression of  condolence  and  regret,  and  wished  to  give  two  cents 
each  to  send  a  fitting  testimony  to  the  widow  of  a  man  who  had 
dared  in  his  high  position  to  place  his  happiness  in  the  fulfillment 
of  his  duties,  and  who  was  murdered  when  his  face  was  beaming 
with  joy,  for  It  had  been  granted  him  to  succeed  ip  bringing  back 
peace  among  his  people.*  Evidently  France  was  in  danger.  Such 
an  example !  It  cannot  be  allowed  that,  it  may  become  a  necessity  to 
be  unassuming  and  honest  to  get  a  medal  or  a  testimony  after 
death.  Such  things,  medals— to  have  one's  face  stamped  forever 
on  silver  or  gold  as  Ceesar  had— medals  are  evidently  the  speciality 
and  privilege  only  of  great  men.  It  was  then  befitting  a  just  and 
dignified  government,  as  is,  just  i;ow,  the  government  of  France, 
to  protect  privileges  and  propriety,  and  above  all,  public  morals ; 
that  a  good  people  may  not  be  deceived,  money  and  feelings 
wasted,  when  government  knows  so  much  better  how  to  ai)pro- 
prlate  them. 

France  was  evidently  in  danger,  and  France  was  saved  again  : 
the  money  and  men  who  dared  such  a  scandal  were  saved,  and 
morality  vindicated  I 

DR.  W.  X    ;  TJTHRIE. 

Philadelphia,  June  30th,  1865. 

•  We  read  In  the  Tribune  of  June  16th : 

The'Fbench  Subscbiption  fob  Mhs.  Lincoln.— The  following  Information 
has  been   recelve<l  In   this  city:   "Recently  a  popular  subscription  of  two 
cents  a  head  was  commenced  at  Nantes,  in  Prance,  for  a  gold  medal  for  Mrs. 
Lincoln.    This  medal  was  to  bear  the  following  inscription : 
"  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity. 
'"To  Lincoln,  twice  chosen  President  of  the  United  States, 

" '  From  the  grateful  Democracy  of  Prance. 

"  Lincoln,  the  Honest,  abolished  Slavery,  re-established  the 

Union,  Saved  the  Republic  without  Vailing  the 

Statue  of  Liberty. 

" '  He  was  Assassinated  the  14th  of  April,  1865. 

"About  the  30th  of  April,  when  the  number  of  the  subscriptions  had  reached 

11,120,  the  subscriptions  were  seized  by  the  police,  who  stated  that  the  scheme 

was  to  be  stopped  everywhere  in  France." 


^ 


ji 


THE  STRICTURES  OF  LABIENUS. 


THE  HISTORICAL  CRITIC  IN  THE  TIME  OF  AUGUSTUS. 


This  happcnetl  in  tho  seventh  year  after  Christ,  in  the 
thirty-eighth  year  of  tho  reign  of  Augustus,  seven  years 
before  his  death;  it  was  in  full  tide  of  tho  principate,  the 
people  had  a  master. 

Having  slowly  emerged  from  that  vapor  of  blood  which 
had  empurpled  its  dawn,  the  star  of  Julius  was  rising  and 
shedding  a  soft  light  on  the  silent  forum.  It  was  a  fine 
time!  Tho  Curia*  was  silent,  and  the  laws  were  being 
made ;  there  was  no  moro  curiat  or  centuriat  comitia ;  no 
more  rogations,  provocations,  secessions,  plebiscitesf ;  no 
moro  elections,  no  moro  disorder ;  no  longer  any  army  of 
the  Republic,  nulla  publica  arma;  every  where  Roman 
peace  conquered  over  the  Romans ;  there  was  only  one  tri- 
bune, Augustus ;  only  ono  army,  the  army  of  Augustus ; 
only  ono  will,  his;  only  ono  consul,  he;  only  one  censor, 
he  yet ;  only  ono  pretor,  ho,  always  he.  Eloquence,  pro- 
scribed, was  going  to  die  in  tho  shadow  of  tho  schools ; 
literature  wae  ■^'liring  under  the  protection  of  MsecenasI ; 
Livy  ceased  j  write;  Labeo§,  to  speak;  the  reading  of 
Cicero  was  prohibited ;  .  .  .  .  [;ocioty  was  saved.  As  for 
glory,  they  doubtless  had  it  as  befits  an  empire  which  re- 
spects itself.  There  had  been  a  little  tilting  every  where ; 
people  had  been  beaten  north  and  south,  right  and  left, 
sufficiently ;  there  were  names  to  be  inscribed  on  tho  cor- 

*  Curia,  subdivision  of  a  Roman  «impire. 

t  Plebiscites,  decree  cmuuated  from  tho  Roman  people  convoked  assembled 
by  tribes. 
X  Macenas,  protector  of  letters  and  arts. 
l  Iiabeo,  a  distinguished  legist. 


mm  ot'strootR  and  on  triumplml  urclios;  natiniiH  woro  vaii- 
(HiishcHl  to  1)0  enchained  on  baa-reliols ;  there  woro  the  Dal- 
matianH,  tho  Cuntahrians,  Aciuitains  and  Panoniuns;  there 
were  the  IllynanH,  llhetiauH,  VindclioianH,  BahisHos  and  tho 
DacianH;  the  Ubians,  tho  SiciinibrmnH,  and  tho  1.  -thians, 
dreuni  of  Ca•!^ar ;  without  counting  tho  Romans  of  tlio  civil 
wars,  over  whom  AngustuH  had  tlit  audacity  to  triumph 
contrary  to  cuBtom,  but  on  horseback  only,  by  modcity. 
There  had  even  been  one  of  thoHO  wars  in  which  the  Em- 
peror commanded  in  person  and  was  wounded,  which  is 
the  height  of  glory  for  a  great  nation. 

In  tho  meantime,  tho  Sesterces*  wcro  pouring  down 
upon  the  people;  tho  princo  multiplied  di»tril)Utions— it 
niiMit  be  said  that  these  cost  him  nothing— ho  distributed, 
distributed,  distributed ;  he  was  so  good,  that  he  even  gave 
to  little  children  under  twelve  years  of  age,  contrary  to  thd 
law.    It  is  becoming  to  violate  law,  when  one  is  better 

than  the  law.  , 

Tho  only  cmbarrasamont  tho  people  suitered,  was  in  tho 
choice  of  amusements :  there  were  theatricals,  gladiatorial 
performances,  sports  of  the  forum  and  of  the  amphitheatre, 
circuses,  nautical  and  Trojan  games,  not  to  mention  races, 
hunts,  and  athletic  wrestlings,  and  without  prejudice  to 
exhibitions  of  the  rhinoceros,  tigers,  and  of  serpents  of  fifty 
cubits  in  length.    Never  had  the  Roman  people  been  so 
much  amused.    Add,  also,  that  the  prince  frequently  passed 
in  review  the  cavaliers,  and  that  he  loved  to  renew  often 
the  ceremony  of  the  defiling  of  troops,  a  majestic  spectacle 
if  not  diversified,  and  which  it  would  be  unjust  to  omit  in 
the  enumeration  of  the  pleasures  which  ho  lavished  upon 
the  rulers  of  the  world.    As  to  himself,  his  pleasures  were 
simple,  and,  if  it  were  not  that  he  gave,  perhaps  too  often, 
the  legitimate  place  of  Scribonia  or  of  Livy,  either  to  Dru- 
sula  or  TertuUa,  or  Terentilla,  or  Rufilla,  or  Salvia  Titi- 
scen'ia,  or  to  others ;  and  that  ho  had  the  bad  taste,  in  abso- 
lute famine,  to  banquet  too  joyously,  disguised  as  a  god, 
with  eleven  cronies,  deified  like  himself;  and  that  he  loved 
a  little  too  violently  the  fine  furniture  and  beautiful  vases 
of  Corinth,  and  to  such  a  degree  as  sometimes  to  kill  the 


•  SUvor  Roman  coin. 


IS  wore  vaii- 
roro  the  Dal- 
iiinns ;  there 
HH08  iiiul  tlio 
0  r.  .'thians, 
8  of  tlio  civil 
to  triumph 
hy  modcity. 
i(>h  the  Em- 
ed,  which  ia 

uring  down 
ril)ution8 — it 
!  distributed, 
le  even  gave 
iitrary  to  th«J 
)no  is  better 

a,  waB  iu  tho 
,  gladiatorial 
niphithcatre, 
ontioii  races, 
prejudice  to 
•pouts  of  fifty 
iple  been  so 
iieiTtly  passed 
renew  often 
Stic  spectacle 
ist  to  omit  in 
ivished  upon 
leasures  were 
[ips  too  often, 
sither  to  Dru- 
r  Salvia  Titi- 
taste,  in  abso- 
jed  as  a  god, 
that  he  loved 
eautiful  vases 
es  to  kill  the 


owner  to  got  tlio  vaBC ;  and  th.p,t  ho  was  as  much  a  gambler 
tw  dice  themselves ;  and  ti)ut  ho  was  always  a  little  inclined 
to  tho  vice  of  his  uncle;  and  that,  in  his  old  ago,  his  taste 
having  bocomo  more  delicate,  ho  would  no  longer  admit 
to  the  honor  of  his  intimacy  any  but  virgins,  and  that  tho 
caro  of  introducing  to  him  the  said  virgins  was  entrusted 
to  his  wife  liivia,  who,  uovertholeHS,  accpiiftod  herself  with 
great  zeal  of  this  little  employment;  if  it  were  not  for  that 
ond  some  inconsiderable  comnn -ulations  which  are  not 
worth  oveu  the  trouble  of  montiouing,  Suetorious  asserts 
that  his  life  was  well-ordered  and  screened  from  all  reproach. 
Therefore,  it  was  a  happy  epoch,  that  Julian  era;  it  was  a 
great  ago,  that  Augustan  age  ;  and  it  was  not  without  rea- 
son that  Virgil,  a  little  dispossessed  at  first,  but  afterwards 
iudemnifiod,  exclaims :  "  It  is  the  roign  of  Saturn  that  ia 
coming  again." 

There  was,  hero  and  there,  it  is  true,  some  shade  in  tho 
picture ;  there  had  been  a  dozen  plots,  as  many  seditions, 
and  these  mar  a  reign.  It  was  the  Republicans  who  came 
back.  There  had  been  a3  many  of  them  as  could  bo  killod 
at  Pharsalia,*  Thapsua,  Munda,  Philippi,  Actium  and  Alex- 
andria, and  in  Sicily ;  for  Roman  liberty  was  so  tenacious 
of  life,  that  not  less  than  seven  wholesale  butcheries  were 
requisite  to  disable  it ;  legions  seemed  to  rise  from  the  earth 
according  to  Pompey's  pray<'r;  these  over-returning  Ku-, 
publicans  had  been  conscientiously  killed — but  how  many  ? 
Three  hundred  thousand,  perhaps,  at  tho  most;  that  was 
well,  but  it  was  not  enough ;  there  were  still  rome  of  them 
left.  Hence,  tho  life  of  this  great  man  was  not  free  from 
some  little  vexations.  In  the  Senate  he  was  obliged  to 
wear  a  cuirass  and  a  sword  under  his  robe,  (which  is  incon- 
venient, ©specially  in  hot  countries,)  and  to  surround  him- 
self with  ten  stout  fellows  whom  he  called  his  friends,  but 
who,  nevertheless,  were  irksome  companionship  to  him. 

There  were  also  those  three  coliorts  which  dragged  be- 
hind him  their  old  iron,  in  that  same  city  in  which,  sixty 
years  before,  they  were  not  permitted  to  enter  with  even  a 
little  knife ;  that  was  enough  to  give  rise  to  some  doubts 
upon  tho  popularity  of  the  father  of  the  country.     There 


•The  battle  of  PUarsaUa. 


"mmmmmmlm 


8 

was  afterwards  j*  grippa,  who  demolished  too  much :  but  it 
was  necessary  to  make  a  tomb  of  marble  for  this  great 
people  that  wished  to  die.  There  was  yet  the  Prefect  of 
Lyons,  Lycinius,  who  ground  down  his  province  too  much  ; 
he  did  not  know  how  to  shear  the  beast  without  making 
it  bleat ;  he  was  an  ignorant  and  rough  admiu'strator,  who 
was  contented  to  take  money  wherever  it  was,  I  e.,  in 
pockets,  proceeding  unceiemoniously,  but  lacking  genius 
in  the  execution.  It  was  he  who  conceived  the  idea  of 
adding  two  months  to  the  calendar,  in  order  to  make  his 
good  city  pay  the  monthly  tax  twice  more  in  the  year. 
However,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  he  shared  equitably 
with  his  master  the  product  of  his  administration. 

The  good  people  of  Lyons,  not  knowing  hew  to  tear  off 
this  blood-sucker  from  the  ekin,  had  the  simplicity  to  ask 
Ccesar  to  recall  their  Prefect,  who  was  sustained. 

There  was  also  a  certain  distant  expedition,  of  which 
there  was  not  great  reason  to  be  proud ;  the  unfortunate 
Varus  had  stupidly  permitted  himself  to  be  crushed  with 
three  legions,  some  where  over  the  Rhine,  in  the  depth  of 
the  Hercynian  forest.     That  had  a  bad  effect.     War  is  like 
all  good  things— it  must  not  be  abused.    It  has  the  merit 
of  bei'ig  the  most  absorbing  spectacle,  the  most  powerful 
of  diversions,  I  concede  it,  but  it  is  a  resource  which  must 
be  used  with  caution.     That  insolent  and  terrible  game 
must  not  be  played  too  often,  as  it  may  turn  against  him 
who  plays  it;  and  when  one  is  a  savior,  it  does  not  become 
him  to  send  the  people  whom  he  has  saved  to  the  slaughter 
without  due  consideration.     This  might  be  said,  but  who 
then  thought  of  it  ?     Scarcely  twenty  thousand  mothers— 
and  what  is  that  in  a  great  empire?      Glory,  it  is  well 
known,  does  not  giv^  her  favors,  and  Rome  was  rich  enough 
in  blood  and  money  to  pay  for  them.    Augustus,  to  clear 
himself,  had  but  to  beat  his  head  softly  agaiast  the  doors, 
and  to  make  a  prosopceia  which,  besides,  has  become  clas- 
sical. 

There  was  finally  Lolius,  who  had  lost  an  eagle,  but  they 
copld  do  without  him ;  and  as  for  the  finances,  a  new  era 
had  just  b-^en  opened,  the  gre^t  administration  had  been 
invented,  and  the  world  was  going  to  be  administered ; 


9 


auch :  but  it 
r  this  great 
3  Prefect  of 
e  too  much ; 
out  making 
strator,  who 
vas,  i.  e.,  in 
king  genius 
the  idea  of 
to  make  his 
in  the  year, 
ed  equitably 
ion. 

w  to  tear  ofi 
)licity  to  ask 
jd. 

n,  of  which 

unfortijnate 

crushed  with 

the  depth  of 

War  is  like 
as  the  merit 
ost  powerful 
i  which  must 
errible  game 

against  him 
3  not  become 
the  slaughter 
laid,  but  who 
rd  mothers — 
•y,  it  is  well 
3  rich  enough 
stus,  to  clear 
ist  the  doors, 
become  clas- 

igle,  but  they 
es,  a  new  era 
ion  had  been 
idministered ; 


the  monster  empire,  with  a  hundred  million  hands  and 
one  belly;  the  unity  was  founded!  1  will  work  with 
your  hands,  and  you  will  digest  with  my  stomach ;  that  is 
clear,  and  Meneas  was  right,  and  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  advice  of  the  peasant  of  the  Danube. 

If  tliafc  system  brought  some  abuses  with  it,  if  there  was 
from  time  to  time  a  famine,  it  was  bat  a  cloud  to  the  sun- 
shine of  universal  joy,  a  discordant  note  which  was  lost  in 
the  concert  of  public  gratitude ;  and  all  these  little  ills, 
which  now  and  then  ruffled  the  surface  of  the  empire,  were 
in  reality  but  happy  contrast?  and  piquant  diversions 
reserved  to  a  happy  people  by  their  good  fortune,  to  give 
them  rest  from  happiness  and  time  to  breathe ;  it  was  as 
beasoning  to  the  entertainment ;  just  enough  to  break  the 
monotony  of  success  to  temper  hilarity,  and  avert  satiety. 
People  were  stifling  ith  prosperity ;  for  there  are  benefits 
which  overpower,  and  joys  which  carry  death  with  them. 

Who  then,  in  that  golden  age,  who  then,  could  com- 
plain ?  Tacitus  says  that,  seven  years  later,  at  the  death 
of  Augustus,  but  few  citizens  remained  who  had  seen  the 
Republic ;  there  remained  fewer  still  who  had  served  it ; 
they  had  been  carried  off  by  civil  wars  or  proscriptions,  by 
summary  execution,  assassination  or  exile,  want  or  despair 
.  .  .  time  had  done  the  rest;  there  remained  yet  some 
sorrowing  spirits,  some  morose  old  men ;  and  as  to  those 
who  had  come  into  the  world  since  Actium,  they  were  born 
with  an  image  of  the  emperor  in  their  eyes,  and  they  could 
not  see  clearer ;  there  was  cause  for  hoping  at  least  that 
they  would  be  prepared  to  find  the  new  face  of  things 
beautiful,  and  even  the  most  beautiful  of  any  thing,  having 
never  seen  any  other.  Therefore,  the  vulgar  herd  of  Re- 
mus was  content,  and  all  was  at  the  best  in  the  best  of 
empires. 

At  this  time  lived  Labienus.  Do  you  know  Labienus  ? 
He  was  a  strange  man,  of  a  singular  turn  of  mind.  Just 
imagine  that  he  persisted  in  remaining  a  citizen  in  a  city 
where  there  was  no  longer  any  thing  but  subjects.  Can 
that  be  comprehended  ?  Givis  Bomanus  sum,  was  he  re- 
peating, and  it  was  not  possible  to  bring  him  ofi'  that  as- 
sumed ground.    He  wanted,  like  Cicero,  to  die  free  in  a 


u 


■;:  ^ 


■•■■■IP'"***" 


IMj 


1 

1 

[ 


-' 


\ 


10 

free  country.  Can  one  imagine  such  extravagance  ?  Citi- 
zen, and  free !  Oh  !  madness !  Doubtless  he  was  saying 
this  as  Polyeuetus  said  at  a  later  time :  "  I  am  a  Christian  !" 
without  well  knowing  what  he  was  saying.  The  truth 
was,  his  poor  head  was  diseased,  his  brain  dangerously 
affected— at  least  this  was  the  opinion  of  the  doctor  of 
Augustus,  the  celebrated  Antonius,  who  called  this  kind 
of  madness,  reasoning  monomania,  and  who  had  prescribed 
its  being  treated  with  imprisonment.  Labienus  had  not 
followed  the  prescription,  and  hence  he  was  not  cured,  as 
you  will  see  when  I  have  brought  you  to  a  better  acquaint- 
ance with  him. 

Labienus  was  bearing  a  name  already  twice  honored  by 
good  citizens.     The  first  Labienus,  a  .lieutenant  of  C»sar, 
had  quitted  him  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Eubicou, 
in  order  not  to  bo  an  accomplice  of  his  outrage ;  the  second 
preferred  to  serve  the  Parthians  to  the  triumviri ;  our  hero 
was  the.third  one.     A  line  from  Seneca,  the  rhetorician, 
suffices  *to  give  us  a  glimpse  of  that  grand  figure,  for  we 
find  there  this  bold  word  of  Labienus :  "  I  know  that  what 
I  am  writing  can  be  read  only  after  my  death."    An  orator 
and  historian  of  the  first  rank,  and  having  come  up  to 
glory  through  a  thousand  obstacles,  it  was  said  of  him  that 
he  had  extorted  rather  than  obtained  admiration.    He  was 
then  writing  a  history  of  which  he  sometimes  read,  with 
closed  doors,  a  few  pages  to  some  trusty  friends.    It  was 
with  reference  to  tkis  history  that  the  condemnation  of 
books  to  the  flames  was  applied  for  the  first  time,  upon 
motion  of  a  senator,  who  was  himself  punished,  some  time 
after,  with  the  penalty  he  had  invented ;  and  so  Labienus 
was  the  first  in  Rome  who  had  thus  the  honor,  which  after- 
wards became   common,  of   an  incendiary  setmtatus-con- 
suUum.    It  is  what  Mr.  Egger  judiciously  terms:  "The 
new  difficulties  to  which  the  imperial  regime  gives  birth 
for  history."    The  poor  executed  historian,  smelling  yet 
the  smoke  of  the  funeral  pyre,  not  being  able  to  survive 
his  burned  work,  went  out  and  shut  himself  up  in  the 
tomb  of  his  ancestors,  never  more  to  go  out  from  it.     He 
believed  his  work  annihilated,  but  it  wa«  not.    Cassiua 
knew  it  by  heart,  and  Cassius,  protected  by  exile,  was,  as 


nee?  Citi- 
wiis  sayiug 
ChriBtian !" 
The  truth 
:langerou8ly 
e  doctor  of 
d  this  kind 
i  prescribed 
1U8  had  not 
ot  cured,  as 
;er  acquaint- 

houored  by 
at  of  CiBsar, 
he  Rubicon, 
;  the  second 
ri ;  our  hero 
rhetorician, 
gure,  for  we 
>w  that  what 
'    An  orator 
come  up  to 
1  of  him  that 
on.    He  was 
33  read,  with 
snds.    It  was 
lemnation  of 
it  time,  upon 
,d,  some  time 
so  Labienus 
■,  which  after- 
senatatus-con- 
terms:  "The 
e  gives  birth 
smelling  yet 
lo  to  survive 
slf  up  in  the 
from  it.     lie 
not.     Cassius 
exile,  was,  as 


It 

he  himself  said,  a  livini'  edition  of  the  book  of  his  friend,  an 
edition  they  could  not  burn.  No  doubt  the  death  of  La- 
bienus was  as  senseless  as  his  life.  A  book  burned — a  fine 
affair!  does  one  kill  himself  for  that?  The  senate  did  not 
desire  the  death  of  the  guilty  man,  it  only  wished  to  give 
him  a  warning;  he  ought  to  have  profited  by  it;  but  this 
man  took  every  thing  the  wrong  way,  and  always  heard 
wrong  when  he  heard  at  all.  He  was  well  worthy  to  figure 
in  that  long  defile  of  stoical  suicides  which  had  com- 
menced, and  among  all  those  heroic  simpletons,  all  those 
systematic  and  radical,  enraged  and  absurd  opponents  who 
made  of  their  death  even  a  last  act  of  opposition,  and  con- 
ceived themselves,  by  opening  their  veins,  to  be  playing  a 
trick  on  the  empei»r.  Some  killed  themselves  solely  to 
enrage  the  prince,  who  laughed  in  his  sleeve,  and  was  only 
the  more  persuaded  of  the  excellence  of  his  policy,  by 
seeing  that  his  work  was  being  done  without  his  help. 
Labienus  belonged  to  these ;  you  see  clearly  that  he  was 
an  imbecile;  such  was  the  man  whose  "Propos"*  we 
wish  to  repeat  to  you,  and  you  will  see  that  in  his  con- 
versation, as  in  his  life  and  death  he  was  always  the  same 
— that  is,  incorrigible.  He  was  a  man  of  the  old  party, 
since  the  Republic  had  passed  away ;  a  reactionist,  since 
the  Republic  was  a  thing  of  former  times ;  a  ci-devant  of 
the  old  system,  since  the  government  of  the  laws  was  the 
system  of  past  times :  in  a  word,  he  was  a  dolt. 

He  was  one  of  those  wicked  ones  who  ought  to  tremble 
under  a  strong  government^,  that  the  good  may  be  re- 
assured, and  that  society,  shaken  even  to  its  foundations, 
may  settle  down  again  upon  its  basis.  This  is  not  all, 
Labienus  was  ungrateful :  in  full  cfesarism,  in  full  glory, 
in  the  midst  of  that  superabundance  of  public  felicity, 
and  that  immense  feast  of  the  human  kind,  he  failed 
to  recognize  the  blessings  which  the  second  founder 
of  Rome,  the  pacificator  of  the  world,  bestowed  with 
full  hands ;  he  had  at  the  same  time  blind  and  hostile 
passions,  which  make  dangerous  men  and  baleful  citizens. 
But  you  do  not  know  him  yet.  His  passion,  wanting  air 
and  space  in  the  suffocation  of  the  principate,  being  able 


*  strictures. 


12 

neither  to  speak  nor  write,  to  act  or  move,  he  spent  whole 
hours  on  the  1   iblicius  bridge  seeing  the    Tiber    lun, 
motionless  and  silent,  but  with  fierce  aspect,  menacing 
gesture,  and  breast  distofided  with  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
days,  like  a  statue  of  the  avenger  Mars,  like  a  petrified 
tribune.     "  It  is  sweet  to  sleep,  or  to  be  a  stone,  as  long 
OS  misery  or  shame  continue,"    said    Michael  Angelo. 
Labienus  did  not  sleep,  but  he  was  stony,  harder  than  the 
rock  of  the  Capitol,  immobile  saxum.     Tyranny  had  no 
hold  upon  him,  and  the  empire  in  its  power  was  unable  to 
reach  him ;  he  was  a  Roman  of  the  old  stamp  upon  which 
nothing  could  make  an  impression.     Alone,  upright,  liko 
Codes,  between  an  army  and  a  precipice,  he  defied  both; 
he  defied  Augustus  and  laughed  at  tleath.    In  all  this 
there  was  some  good,  if  you  will;  but,  on, the  other  hand, 
what  a  detestable  character,    what  a  deformed    mind! 
Octavius  had  been  fortunate  to  stamp  a  superb  medal 
with  the  three  intertwined  hands  of  the  triumvirs,  and 
this  sublime  legend :  «  The  salvation  of  mankind."     That 
still  displeased  him ;  he  protended  he  had  been  saved  in 
spite  of  himself,  and  he  quoted  the  verse  from  Horace : 
"  When  to  be  thus  saved  I  have  no  design, 
To  the  devil  the  savior,  who  is  but  an  assassin." 
Old  Labienus  was  one  of   those  who  had  seen  the 
Republic;  he  was  foolish  enough  to  remember  it,,  and 
there  was  the  misfortune.    He  beheld  now  a  great  reign, 
and  he  was  not  satisfied.    There  are  some  people  who 
never  are ;  he  was  always  believing  himself  to  be  yet  at 
the  day  after  Pharsalia;  forty  years  of  glory  were  there 
before  his  eyes  without  opening  them ;  he  had  the  air  of  a 
man  who  has  had  an  evil  dream,  and  the  reality  to  him 
was  but  an  infernal  vision.    He  expressed  artless  astonish- 
ment ;  he  would  not  believe  that  such  an  era  of  glory  had 
been.    Epiminides,  who  slept  a  hundred  years,  when  he 
awoke  was  L  ds  astonished,     Sad  in  the  universal  joy, 
gloomy  amidst  the  Roman  orgies,  like  the  two  philoso- 
phers of  Couture's  picture,  he  was  there  and  seemed  to 
live  elsewhere;  he  was  a  spectre  in  a  festival ;  you  might 
Bay  a  corpse  escaped  from  the  tombs  of  Philippi,  a  curious 
shade  which  comes  to  look  about.    Sometimes  a  friend 


jut  whole 
bcr  lun, 
menacing 
le  ancient 

petrified 
e,  as  long 

Angelo. 

than  the 
f  had  no 
unable  to 
)on  which 
right,  liko 
aed  both ; 
n  all  this 
;hei'  hand, 
3d  mind ! 
srb  medal 
nvirs,  and 
d."    That 

saved  in 
Lorace : 


seen  the 
;r  it,,  and 
reat  reign, 
3ople  who 
be  yet  at 
^ere  there 
he  air  of  a 
lity  to  him 
IS  astonish- 
'  glory  had 
1,  when  he 
versal  joy, 
70  philoso- 
seemed  to 
you  might 
i,  a  curious 
es  a  friend 


18 

pitied  him;  him!  he  pitied  his  friend.  More  often,  all 
alone,  he  was  muttering  in  hia  corner,  looking  upon  the 
empire  passing  away.  It  was  not  possible  to  make  such  a 
man  listen  to  reason ;  ho  was  of  another  age,  an  exile  in 
the  new  age;  he  had  nostalgia  of  the  past;  he  had  learned 
nothing  and  forgotten  nothing ;  he  understood  nothing  of 
the  present  epoch;  he  had  all  the  prejudices  of  Brutus 
and  was  tainted  with  Greek  opinions  which  had  not  been 
current  in  Rome  for  a  long  time.  His  manner  was  old  as 
the  Twelve  Tables;  he  thought  still  as  people  thought  in 
the  time  of  Fabricius  or  the  hairy  Camillus,  and  had, 
moreover,  fantastic  ideas  and  inorediblo  manias,  and 
especially  an  odd  taste,  strange  and  inexplicable  ....  he 
loved  liberty !  Evidently,  T.  Labieuus  had  no  common 
sense.  To  love  liberty !  Can  you  understand  such  a 
thing  ?  It  was  a  retrograde  opinion,  for  liberty  was  old, 
and  the  new  men  liked  the  new  system.  He  had  no  per- 
ception of  shades,  no  notion  of  time,  no  apprehension  of 
transitions.  The  times  had  marched  on,  and  ideas  also ; 
he  alone  remained  planted  there  as  a  term ;  he  still  be- 
lieved in  justice,  laws,  in  science  and  conscience — evi- 
dently he  was  in  his  dotage.  He  spoke  of  h  ^nest  men 
like  Cicei'o,  he  spoke  of  the  senate,  tribune,  comitia ;  and 
did  not  see  that  all  these  had  melted  away  like  snow  in  the 
immense  sewer,  and  that  he  was  almost  alone  on  the  bank. 
He  was  still  counting  years  by  the  consuls,  for  Augustus 
had  left  the  name  to  keep  up  a  belief  in  the  thing,  and  he 
hoped  to  resuscitate  the  thing  in  preserving  the  name. 
He  was  preparing  discourses  to  the  people,  as  if  there  was 
a  people,  invoking  laws,  as  if  there  were  laws.  The  prin- 
cipate  was  to  him  but  a  parenthesis  of  history,  a  disgrace- 
ful page  of  Roman  annals ;  he  was  eager  to  turn  the  page 
or  tear  it  out ;  he  was  ever  saying  that  it  would  come  to 
an  end,  and  he  believed  it ;  the  people  called  him  a  fool, 
and  80  he  was,  as  you  see.  After  all,  a  good  man; 
obstinate  rather  than  wicked;  incapaple  of  killing  a 
chicken,  or  wishing  the  least  evil  to  any  one,  if  we  except 
Augustus,  and  yet !  ...  He  was  so  mild,  that  he  would 
only  have  sent  him  to  the  galleys,  to  turn  a  grindstone, 
contrary  to  a  more  common  opinion  of  those  who  wanted 


Vi 


111 


mmgumi* 


y 


14 

to  nail  him  to  the  cross.  He  thought,  moreover,  with  the 
stoics,  that  punishment  is  good  for  criminals;  and  he 
wished  Augustus  the  only  good  that  could  happen  to  him 
— expiation. 

One  day,  as  he  was  walking  under  the  portico  of  Agrippa, 
he  met  Gallio.     Gallio  was  a  young  sage,  while  Labienus 
was  an  old  fool.     He  was  a  serious  and  mild  young  man 
well  educated  and  elegant,  polite,  circumspect  and  prudent, 
and  a  moderate  stoic ;  Spaniard  and  Roman,  citizen  and 
subject,  a  man  of  two  epochs  and  two  coutitries ;  mixed 
blood  and  crossed  opinion ;  a  little  of  this  and  a  little  of 
that ;  sometimes,  like  Horace,  turning  his  softened  eyes  on 
the  tomb  of  liberty ;  and  bringing  them  back  not  less 
softened  on  the  cradle  of  the  empire;  giving  a  tear  to 
Cato,  and  a  smile  to  Cpesar ;  a  benevolent  character,  loving 
everybody  a  little,  even  Labienus.     He  was  a  brother  of 
Seneca,  who  dared  not  live,  and  uncle  of  Lucan  who  knew 
not  how  to  die ;  there  were  no  longer  but  moieties  of 
heroism,   and   some  fragments  of  greatness,  a  people  in 
ruins  before  its  temples;  here  and  there  yet  some  half-^ 
Romans.     Gallio  wrote  some  verses  for  the  favorite  .of 
Mecenus,  and   critics  called  him  the  ingenious  Gallio. 
Finally  he  had  intellect,  for  he  was  proconsul.    It  was 
from  him  that  the  indifferent  in  religious  matters  were 
named  GalUonists ;  he  could  have  been  a  little  patron  of 
the  same    sort    in    political    matters.     It  was  for  that 
Labienus  reproached  him.    And   I  believe  the  gloomy 
pedestrian  was  going  to  pass  without  caring  to   recog- 
nize him,  for  Labienus  was  not  amiable;  he  was  but 
little  more  afiable  than  those  famous  senators  who,  proudly 
seated  in  the  middle  of  the  forum,  one  day  received  so 
coldly  the  Gauls.     So  Gallio  would  not  expose  himself  to 
the  hazard  of  caressing  his  beard ;  but  the  young  man  was 
80  pleased,  so  excited  with  emotion,  wanted  so  much  to  find 
some  one  to  whom  he  could  tell  the  great  news  he  had  just 
learned,  so  curious  to  see  the  effect  of  it  on  Labienus,  that 
he  approached  him  and  said : 
Good  day,  Tituer!  quid  agis,  dvldssime  rerum^  How 

dost  thou  do  ? 

Unwell  indeed,  if  the  empire  is  well. 


16 


r,  with  the 
H ;  and  he 
pen  to  him 

)f  Aj^rippa, 
3  LabienuB 
rouug  man 
id  prudent, 
uitizen  and 
■ies;  mixed 
d  a  little  of 
lied  eyes  on 
ik  not  less 
5  a  tear  to 
,cter,  loving 
I  brother  of 
I  who  knew 
moieties   of 
a  people  in 
some  half- 
favorite  .of 
0U8  Gallio. 
lul.    It  was 
latters  were 
e  patron  of 
as  for  that 
the  gloomy 
^  to  recog- 
he  was  but 
,'ho,  proudly 
received  so 
s  himself  to 
mg  man  was 
much  to  find 
}  he  had  just 
ibienus,  that 

rerum,  How 


Well,  we  know  thou  art  always  in  bad  humor ;  but 

I  have  some  news  to  tell  thee. 

There  is  no  news  for  me  so  long  as  Augustus  reigns* 

Come,  I  know  thou  hast  been  in  a  passion  for  thirty 

years,  and  that  thou  hast  not  laughed  once  since  the  trium- 
virate ;  but  here  is  my  news :  the  Memoirs  of  Augustus 
have  just  appeared. 

And  how  long  since  brigands  have  been  making 

books  ? 

Since  honest  men  have  made  emperors. 

Alas! 

So,  my  dear  Titus,  thou  wilt  not  read  these  Memoirs  ? 

1  will  read  them,  Gallio,  I  will  read  them,  crying 


with  shame. 

And  thou  wilt  answer  them,  criticise  them,  and 

make  an  anti-Ciesar,  as  Ctesar  has  made  an  anti-Cato  ? 

No,  Gallio,  I  shall  publish  nothing  on  this  subject; 

I  do  not  discuss  with  him  who  has  thirty  logions ;  in  a  coun- 
try that  is  not  free,  one  ought  to  forbid  himself  to  touch 
upon  contemporary  history,  and  criticism,  in  such  a  mat- 
ter is  impossible. 

Thou  wilt  not,  then,  enlighten  the  public? 

1  shall  not  contribute  to  deceive  it ;  for  in  these 

times,  on  such  subjects,  nothing  which  appears  can  be 
good,  and  nothing  which  is  good  can  appear.  I  will  con- 
tinue my  secret  history,  the  leaves  of  which  I  will  send  to 
Severius,  in  a  safe  place ;  I  will  save  the  truth  by  exiling  it. 

-^ But  we  are  assured  that  criticism  will  be  free; 

tyranny  would  give  literature  a  week's  holiday. 

They  can  give  but  a  false  liberty,  a  liberty  of  De- 
cember, that  is,  a  carnival  of  liberty,  liberias  decembris,  as 
Horace  says ;  I  shall  not  make  use  of  it.  I  shall  not,  by 
writing  against  the  book,  find  myself  placed  between  the 
vengeance  of  Octavius  and  the  clemency  of  Augustus, 
without  even  the  choice.  I  shall  not,  like  Cinna,  give  the 
scoundrel  tiie  occasion  of  playing  the  magnanimous,  and 
to  be  executed  by  grace.  As  to  praising  the  book,  I  can 
only  if  it  be  good,  in  which  case,  I  would  fear  to  be  con- 
founded with  those  who  praise  it  from  other  motives.  It 
is  to  me,  therefore,  as  impossible  to  praise  as  to  blame. 


lU 


16 

Auii  moreover,  the  book  is  not  good  and  cunnot  bo.  WLon 
a  man  is  guilty  enough  to  make  himself  king,  and  fool 
enough  to  make  himself  God,  I  think  he  cannot  have  all 
the  qualities  requisite  for  writing  history. 

Thou  art  sure  before  hand  that  ho  has  neither  good 
sense  nor  good  faith  ;  then  what  remains  to  him  ?  lie  can 
neither  know  truth,  nor  tell  it  if  ho  were  knowing  it ;  then 
what  has  that  sceptre-bearer  to  do  with  the  matter  ?  And 
why  does  he  take  it  into  his  head  to  write  history  ?  A 
king-historian  ought  to  commence  by  abdicating.  He  has 
not  done  so ;  bad  sign.  Then  I  have  read  some  passages 
of  it.  He  justifies  proscriptions  and  vindicates  usurpation. 
That  had  to  be  Jo.  And  thou,  Gallio,  wouldst  have  me 
criticise  this  work  of  ignorance  and  lies,  approved  of  by 
two  thousand  centurions,  and  recommended  to  the  reading 
public  by  veterans.  Criticism!  siege  thou  oughtest  to 
have  said.  And  thou  dost  not  see,  my  good  little  Gallio, 
that  that  is  one  of  the  best  tricks  the  son  of  the  banker 
ever  played  upon  the  sons  of  the  she  wolf,  who  alas !  do 
not  know  how  to  bite,  like  their  grandmother.  Ah  !  Gallio, 
we  are  degenerated,  we  are  Romans  of  the  decadence, 
fallen  from  Caesar  to  Augustus ;  from  Charybdis  to  Scylla ; 
from  strength  to  artifice ;  from  the  uncle  to  the  nephew! 
Poh !  No,  I  do  not  wish  to  fall  into  that  literary  ambush, 
nor  be  caught  in  that  trap,  nor  above  all,  to  cause  others 
to  fall  in  it ;  no,  I  shall  not  write  on  the  *  Memoirs '  of 
Augustus.  The  silence  of  the  people  is  a  lesson  for  kings. 
Labienus  will  give  this  lesson  to  Augustus. 

Never  fear,  moreover,  if  thou  wishest  criticism  on  this 
little  piece  of  imperial  literature,  if  thou  wishest  nice  ap- 
preciations, they  will  be  given ;  if  thou  wishest  for  learned 
dissertations,  it  will  shower  with  them.  If  thou  wishest 
ingenious  and  piquant  observations,  sketches  full  of  nov- 
elty, elegant  and  courteous  discussions  sustained  in  ex- 
quisite style  by  persons  of  the  better  class,  thou  wilt  have 
them ;  if  thou  wantest  kneeling  controversy,  and  groveling 
rhetoric,  and  surprising  epigrams  whose  points  tickle 
'  instead  of  sting,  and  bites  which  are  caresses,  and  bloody 
reproaches  that  give  pleasure,  and  adorable  gracefulness 
adroitly  gliding  under  the  appearance  of  a  severe  judg- 


MmmmUmmmmfammis  vummmiitmnuim»imm[' 


—\l 


bo.  Wlion 
ig,  and  fool 
ot  have  all 

uithor  good 
Q  ?  He  cau 
ngit;  then 
tter?  And 
listory  ?  A 
ig.  lie  has 
no  passages 
usurpation. 
8t  have  mo 
roved  of  by 
the  reading 
oughtest  to 
ittle  Gallio, 
the  banker 
'ho  alas !  do 
Ah !  Qallio, 
decadence, 
is  to  Scylla ; 
be  nephew ! 
ary  ambush, 
;au8e  others 
Memoirs '  of 
>n  for  kings. 

ism  on  this 
est  nice  ap- 
t  for  learned 
bou  wishest 
full  of  nov- 
ined  in  ex- 
)U  virilt  have 
id  groveling 
loints  tickle 
and  bloody 
gracefulness 
levere  judg- 


17 

mont,  and  pretty  little  lovely  words  delicately  enveloped 
in  tlio  folds  of  a  ferocious  and  crabbed  phrase,  and  bou- 
quets flowers  of  Jatiiiity,  and  floods  of  moliiflluoua  elo- 
quence, and  arguments  presented  on  cushions  and  objec- 
tions on  a  silver  waiter,  as  a  domestic  presents  a  letter; 
nothing  of  all  this  will  fail  thee,  my  dear  Qallio :  we  go  to 
see  the  choir  of  the  Muses  of  State  dance,  and  it  is  Mecro- 
nus  who  will  lead  off  the  ballet.  The  chaste  sisters  have 
quitted  Pindus*  for  mount  Palatin,  and  Apollo  has  placed 
himself  on  the  police.  Therefore  Augustus  is  sure  of 
having  a  public,  readers,  Judges,  critics,  copiers  and  com- 
mentators ;  there  will  be  found  people  for  that  work.  He 
who  has  made  Virgils  can  make  Aristarchuses  ;t  he  re- 
quires them,  and  he  will  have  them  ! 

Already  literature  is  in  mirth  :  Varius  weeps  with  joy  ; 
Flavins  stamps  with  tenderness;  Rabirius  prepares  his 
tablets;  Haterius  will  give  a  lecture,  and  Tarpa  a  decla- 
mation ;  Pompeius  Macer|  declares  it  is  a  fine  day  for 
morals,  and  orders  three  copies  luxuriously  finished  for  the 
three  public  libraries  which  he  has  just  organized;  Fene- 
8tellu§  goes  to  add  a  volume  to  his  literary  history ;  Me- 
tellus,  who  writes  the  speech  of  the  prince  so  well,  will 
number  the  oratorical  beauties  of  the  book,  and  Verius, 
the  grammarian,  the  grammatical  beauties ;  Marathus,  the 
historiographer,  will  give  an  analysis  in  the  Court  journal, 
and  Athenodorus,  the  protege  of  Octavia,  will  furnish  a 
paraphrase  for  ladies,  and  some  explanatory  references 
within  the  compass  of  the  princesses ;  there  aro  ten,  I  know 
thousands.  All  these  people  defile  before  the  emperor, 
shouting  with  all  their  might,  like  knights  on  parade ;  ho 
in  the  meantime  will  assume  an  attitude  full  of  modesty 
and  majesty;  his  gesture  will  say:  "Enough!"  his  smile 
will  say:  "More!"  and  the  crowd  will  make  itself  most 
beautifully  hoarse.  As  he  had  the  populace  of  the  seven 
hills  to  applaud  his  acts,  so  he  will  have  the  populace  of 
authors  to  laud  his  book ;  the  plaudits  are  sure,  but  they 
can  come  from  but  one  side;  it  is  then  a  consequence,  suf- 

•  Plndus,  mountain  consecrated  to  ApoUo!  ~~ 

t  ArlstarchuH,  a  severe  Greek  critic. 
t  Pompeius  Macer,  Latan  poet,  contemporary  of  Cicero. 
JFenestella,  Homan  hi8lorl»n  In  the  time  of  Augustus. 


~~tMtKlM^^£ 


Wta 


ttiM- 


fioioutly  grotesque,  of  his  uuiiiuo  literary  poaitioii.     The 
imfortr.iuvto  man  han  not  perhaps  foreseen  it,  but  I  do  not 
care;  he  will  suecee.l  by  order,  that  is  hard,  but  I  cannot 
help  it.     Supremo  power  has  some  inconveniences  tor  an 
author;  all  arc  not  roses  in  the  callbigol  an  imperial  writer. 
The  ground  is  not  tenable,  and  Virgil  would  have  lost  his 
Latin  on  it.     But  one  must  submit  to  the  law  ho  has  him- 
self made;  and  when  shame  is  poured  out,  shame  must  be 
drunk.     Behold,  then,  my  <lear  Gallio;  the  feast  is  about 
to  open;  it  will  bo  noisy,  and  numerously  attended;  al- 
ready the  musicians  are  in  their  places,  tune  the  instru- 
ments, and  prelude  the  concert;  look,  then,  and  listen,  it 
it  is  thy  taste  ;  I  confess  that  the  spectacle  will  not  bo  with- 
out a  certain  attraction  for  those  who  can  yet  smile. 

I  know  that  the  work  will  include  the  last  civil  war,  and 
even  the  last  year  of  Julius  Cesar.     In  good  faith,  my 
dear  Gallio,  canst  thou  take  this  in  earnest?     Augustus 
publishing  a  book  on  the  revolution  he  has  himselt  made  I 
What  can  be  said,  in  thy  opinion,  of  a  criminal  who  is  pub- 
lishing an  apology  of  his  own  crime?     In  my  judgment, 
he  commits  an  outrage,  more  difticult,  it  is  true,  than  the 
first-  (for  it  is  easier  to  commit  a  crime  than  to  justify  it;) 
but  this  second  outrage,  if  more  difHcult,  is  also  more  con- 
demnable  and  more  fatal,  for  the  victims  are  move  nunier- 
ous,  and  the  consequences  more  durable.     The  lirst  strikes 
at  men's  lives,  the  other  at  their  conscience ;  the  one  kills 
the  body,  the  other  the  mind ;  the  one  oppresses  the  pre- 
sent  the  other  the  future.    It  is  the  coup  d'etat  in  morals, 
the  creation  of  disorder,  injustice  systematized  the  organi- 
zation  of  evil,  the  promulgation  of  lawlessness,  the  pro- 
scription of  truth,  the  detinitive  defeat  of  public  reason, 
the  general  rout  of  ideas,  an  intellectual  battle  of  Actium. 
It.  is  the  real  crowning  of  an  edifice  of  villany  and  infamy  ; 
it  is  also  the  only  one  possible.     Augustus'  book,  .... 
it  is  his  life  set  up  as  an  example,  it  is  his  ambition  niado 
innocent,  his  will  formulated  into  a  law  ;  it  is  the  code  <)t 
malefactors,  the  bible  of   rogues-and  it  is  such  a  book 
thou  wishest  to  be  publicly  criticised  under  the  regime  ot 
his  good  will  and  pleasure  !     Thou  wouldst  make  a  literary 
opposition  to  Augustus?     Pooh!     Criticism  upon   Octa- 


19 


ition.     Tho 
(Ut  I  do  not 
lit  1  ciiniiot 
uncos  for  un 
u'iiil  writer, 
luvc  lost  \m 
lio  has  hiui- 
inc  niUHt  be 
in8t  18  about 
tteiuled ;  h1- 
:  the  ill  stra- 
nd liBten,  if 
not  bo  with- 
<niile. 

ivil  war,  and 
id  fiiith,  my 
?     Augustus 
niself  made ! 
1  who  is  pub- 
y  judgment, 
rue,  than  tlio 
to  justify  it;) 
180  more  con- 
more  numcr- 
e  first  strilies 
the  one  kills 
esses  the  pre- 
■tdt  in  morals, 
d  the  orgaui- 
less,  the  pro- 
luhliu  reason, 
;le  of  Actium. 
f  and  infamy ; 
'  book,  .... 
mbition  made 
is  the  code  of 

I  such  a  book 
tlie  regime  of 

aake  a  literary 

II  upon   Octa- 


viufl !  What  dcM-ision  !  He  ha«  not  made  a  criticism  upon 
Cicero ;  ho  has  killed  him  !  Wlu.t !  the  wretch  who  assafl- 
81  nates  thee,  would  give  theo  a  sermon  on  assassination; 
and  before  giving  thoo  the  last  blow,  nskn  thy  opinion  upon 
his  little  ("ompoHition,  but  thy  advice,  well,  ccimplctcly 
unfeigned,  upon  its  foundation  and  form,  thy  political  and 
literary  opinion ;  for  he  is  an  artist,  and  a  good  fellow,  and 
ho  wants  to  know  thy  opiniou  of  his  work ;  ami  thou, 
eimpletou  like,  thou  wouldst  give  it  to  him,  and,  the  knife 
on  thy  throat,  thou  goesi  on  chatting  gracefully  with  tho 
executioner.     CJallio,  my   friend,  thou  dost  not  think  of 

What  wouldst  thou  say  of  Vcrres  writing  a  book  on 
ownership  Y  Wouldst  thou  argue  with  himV^  Are  tho 
'Memoirs'  of  Octavius  any  thing  else?  Is  it  not  tho 
theory  of  usurpation  written  by  a  usurper?  It  is  a  school 
of  conspiracy  opened  by  an  unpunished  c<inspirator. 

The  author  after  all  can  talk  only  about  what  ho  knows  ; 
he  knows  how  to  pillage  a  town,  cut  tho  throats  of  a  senate, 
force  open  a  treasury  in  a  temple   and   rob  Jupiter;  ho 
knows  how  to  make  false  keys,  false  oaths,  and  false  testa- 
ments; he  knows  how  to  lio  at  the  Forum  and  at  tho 
Curia,  how  to  corrupt  electors  or  do  without  them,  how  to 
kill  his  wounded  colleagues  as  at  Modeiia,  and  how  to  pro- 
scribe  en   masse,  and   knows  also   other  little   games  of 
princes;   following  the   method   of   the   first   Ciesar,   ho 
knows  how  to  borrow  from  one  and  lend  to  another,  and 
make  friends  of  both  sides ;  he  knows  bow  with  a  vigorous 
spring  to  leap  all  barriers,  and  pass  all  Rubicons,  and  then 
with  a  supreme  bound,  rising  above  all  laws  human  and 
divine,  take  the  perilous  leap,  cut  a  caper,  and  come  down 
a  king.     He  knows  how  to  do  all  this,  but  knows  not  a 
word  of  history,  politics,  or  morality,  except  that  it  be  that 
morale  the  morality  of  the  Great  which  was  taught  in  his 
family.     Then  nothing  is  found  in  his  book  that  wo  need 
to  know,  and  we  find,  in  profusion,  what  it  is  dangerous  to 
learn.     He  is  fond  of  old  words,  old  coins  and  old  helmets, 
but  he  is  not  fond  of  old  morals.     Wouldst  tliou  discuss 
with  him  some  points  of  grammiir,  arclueology,  or  numis- 
matics?    Fool  he,  who  would  do  him  that  honor.     Thou 


i| 


t^MP* 


f 


20 

Knif  that  ftiia  would  l)c  to  (ill  into  hl«  tmp  jirid  piny  into 
his  handN  Pf-oplo  of  lii«  sort  fool,  wiiatovor  they  may  do, 
that  thoy  are  nnder  tho  hnn  of  Bocioty  ;  they  havo  rcTnoved 
theniHcIves  violontly  from  it  hy  crime,  and  they  wish  to 
re-enter  it  (juiotly  hy  cunning.  Thoy  have  no  longer  hut 
ono  amhiti  n.  to  ourry  favor  witli  honest  people.  For  this 
purpoBO  tbt  take  all  disguises;  they  go  seeking  every- 
where their  poor  lost  honor;  thoy  are  like  crowned  beg- 
gars  asking  for  esteem  from  door  to  door:  and  that  is  the 
only  alms  which  cannot  ho  given  them.  This  is  tho  posi- 
tion  of  Augustus ;  this  drinker  of  men's  hlood  thirsts  for 
but  ono  thing  now— praise  h;  this  robber  of  tho  empire  of 
tho  world  wishes  to  steal  but  one  thing  more— his  rchuhi- 
tation.  But  ho  attempts  tho  impossible.  The  i  .ii*  lunt 
and  desperate  effort  ho  makes  to  save  some  few  moraels  of 
his  shipwrecked  reputation,  this  supremo  effort  to  hang  his 
honor  .on  a  last  branch,  which  is  about  to  fall,  this  last 
struggle  of  Ciesar  with  public  opinion,  which  is  crushing 
him,  has  somothing  lugubrious  nnd  comical  about  it,  like 
the  last  grimace  of  a  hanged  man,  or  like  the  smile  of  a 
gladiator  who  wishes  to  die  gracefully.  Crosar's  book  is 
tho  toilet  of  the  condemned  man,  the  bow  of  the  criminal 
on  tho  scaffold  to  the  crowd,  as  ho  walks  to  his  doom.  It 
is  tho  coquetry  of  his  last  day.  Ciesar  was  so  filthy  that 
the  executioner  would  not  have  liked  to  touch  him, 
and  he  has  scrubbed  himself  up  a  little  to  embrace  death. 
And  ho  asks  for  readers  !  the  inrtolent  wretch  !  Readers 
for  Cajsar  !  What  forV  He  dares  in  a  preface  to  address 
questions  to  his  readers ;  but  it  is  the  lictor  who  will  an- 
swer them. 

While  waiting  for  that  answer,  I  will  read  the  Me- 
moirs of  Augustus. 

And  1,  replied  Labienus,  ^    ill  i  Had  again  the  Libels 

of  Cassias. 


tuid  piny  into 

they  niny  do, 
have  rmnovod 

they  wish  to 
lo  longer  but 
plo.  For  thl« 
coking  every- 
crovvned  beg- 
id  that  is  the 
lis  in  tbo  posi- 
od  thirsts  tbi 
the  empire  of 
0 — his  rehnbi- 
Tho  i'iiiiiiiont 
evv  moraels  of 
rt  to  hang  his 

fall,  this  last 
h  is  crushing 
about  it,  like 
he  smile  of  a 
(sar's  book  is 
■  the  criminal 
lis  doom.  It 
80  filthy  tlmt 
I  touch  him, 
ibraco  death, 
ch !  Readers 
ice  to  address 

who  will  an- 

read  the  Me- 


nin  the  Libels 


tsmitmmama 


J 


